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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Do you think it needs another border--maybe a blue? I can't decide. It's about 39 x 57.

Thanks for your help--I'm going to add a border for 2 reasons, it seems like the quilt doesn't have an edge, and I want to make the quilt a little bigger. Yellow and dark green were suggested, I think both would do well, but the dark green I have isn't the right color, and the yellow is TOO bright. I do have a periwinkle that I think will work just fine. More pictures when I cut the fabric.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Here is the next one--just a quick baby quilt. The blocks are 6 1/2". I bought this fabric for a baby quilt, but not with any particular baby in mind. I'll be ahead of the game and ready for the next one.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The consensus was the pink for the border, so I went with the wisdom of the crowds. I think it was a good choice. I'm already ready for the next project, but I don't know what...maybe a delectable mountains with stripes. I bought the striped fabric a a couple of weeks ago, and want to do something with it.

Here is a mock up. I'm thinking I might have some pink as well as the blue...so that there is some more variety.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

The borders were supposed to be pink, but I'm thinking I might want to use the fabric I used for the Kaleidoscopes--that's what I did for the last one I made. Maybe I'll do a mock-up with both and see which one says it for me.

So, what do you think...pink, green or fabric from the kaleidoscope blocks??

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Here are all the blocks. I can't seem to get the colors right. There is lots of light from the window, but it's snowing outside so it doesn't quite do justice to the colors. I don't know enough about photography to be able to adjust the colors to get them just right, but this is close. Next comes the sashing--I thought I bought pink for the center, but its a nice lavender. So, cream lavender, cream. The cornerstones will be pink though. I better get to it if I want to get this top done this week. I'll post more progress later.

Looky what I got in the mail yesterday! Thanks to Marti Michell, they were sent to me for free in the hopes I'll use them, like them and blog about them. I'll go for that. When I use them, if I like them, I WILL blog about them!

Now I'm going to have to try something different. There are a couple of ideas running around in my head, I don't know if I'll get to any of them, but if I do, I'll certainly post a picture. I'm thinking of a kaleidoscope fan type of block--hmmm, I wonder what that will look like?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Well, I have begun a new quilt. I couldn't find the fabric for the wall hanging so decided to go ahead with the stack n whack quilt. I am always happily surprised with the blocks that come out of a fabric. I didn't expect this much pink when I looked at it yesterday, but I must have noticed it when I bought it, because I picked pink as one of the major accent fabrics.

Four done, and only 8 more to go. I'll post again when I get some more done.

...and here are some more. This one is going to be fun, I think. The sashing will be a cream and then pink in the middle.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Here is the turtle with some pictures from Hawaii. Looking at it, I think I might add some more above in the same sort of configuration, sort of a circle effect. After looking at the photo above, I decided to switch the two bottom pictures so there wasn't so much ocean on the right. I can't get a very good picture of this because it is on a wall the is next to a 4 foot walkway, so I can't get far enough away. I have to go down a couple of steps and shoot up at it.

I decided against the spin cycle this week, I'm going to work on another kit I bought last year, called Under the Story Sea by Ruth Powers. We bought a brass turtle "petroglyph" last year, and I'll think I'll use this as the background for the turtle. I don't know if I'll quilt it, or use it as a mat. Once it's done I'll figure it out.

Well, I was going to work on the wall hanging, but I can't find the fabric, so it's back to the spin cycle. Must be a sign!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Lindi of Quilty Threads asked me to add a followers section to my blog, so she would know when I posted. I'm a little self-conscious about doing this, as if I expect someone to want to read my blog, but what the heck, I'm nothing if not accommodating, so there you go Lindi!

The hubby is home from work today (I have all week off for spring break) so we did some more work around the house. We still don't have his office and the TV room ready, so we moved junk from those rooms so we can work on them. Oh, and what joy we had on Saturday--the bathroom sink was clogged, but when the hubby tried to remove the p-trap the pipe broke, so out with old and in with the new. The bathroom is going to have a complete remodel (this summer or maybe earlier) and we pulled out the cabinet that had been built in around 1960 and put in a newer smaller version. Some of the old is still there (we need the storage) but soon it will be better. At least we have a sink again.

Thank goodness for the sawzall--that cabinet would not have come out of the bathroom in one piece, so into pieces it went, then into bags, and today to the dump. It's not hanging around outside somewhere waiting for something to happen with it, and that feels good. You can see in the last picture that the new cabinet is very narrow--the space is also very narrow so now there is quite a bit more room. Neither the hubby nor me is small, so having a bit more space comes in quite handy.

And for some quilty news, I have decided the next project (I know you were waiting with bated breath). I'm going to do another spin cycle. I bought the fabrics quite a while ago and I bought them for this project.I forget which of the "solids" I bought for which part of the quilt, but it won't take long to figure it out, I just have to look to see how much I have of each. The pattern for the quilt can also be found on Bethany Reynolds website. Just click on the "free download" link and you'll have it. The colors of the fabrics above aren't exactly right. The actual colors are a bit softer. It's actually a bit of a departure from my bold colors, though you can't tell from the picture. Here, I've played with the saturation a bit--this is closer to the actual colors.I think I'll leave them both in so you can get an idea of how "off" the colors can be.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Here is the turtle wallhaning on the wall. I decided I wasn't going to put it in my bedroom--this is in the walkway/hallway between the front of the house and our bedroom. The wall is a pale green. I am going to print out pictures from our Hawaii trip and put them around this--I think that will be fun. We're still putting away stuff from boxes and I found a bunch of Ikea glass frames (4x6) so I just need to print and put up and I won't have to find a storage place for the frames--yay!

This is the back of the quilt. I wasn't going to buy fabric, and this sits against the wall, so who will know what the fabric is. I have to say, I picked something that I wouldn't use in anything else. I hung the hanging by putting triangles in the corners and a tab in the center. That's a 3/8" oak dowel (I picked up the pine first, but they weren't straight and they weren't solid). I cut the dowel to length, then slipped it in through the tab and into the corner pockets, put two push pins in the wall (using a level of course) et voila!

Marilyn has given me a "Sisterhood" award--thanks Marilyn! I have been corresponding with her for quite a while now. She comments on my blog and I write her back. She makes me aware there are actually people out there reading my blog, and with her different point of view, helps me see things I hadn't noticed about my quilts.

This award was created by the author of Diana Rambles and she says it was inspired by the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I'm supposed to pass it on to my OLBBF (on-line best bloggy friend). I really am an introvert, and besides Marilyn, haven't much talked to anyone online. I read any number of blogs, but I don't comment much, so the authors have no idea I even read.

So I'll just say thanks again, to Marilyn, and if/when I figure out who to give it to--I will--so it's in reserve for not. (BTW, Marilyn already got one, so I can't sent it back to her!)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Well, a couple of people have asked about how I liked using the curve master foot so here's what I think...I will make another quilt with curves because I used it. I don't think I would have if I had used the pinning method. I am disappointed in the quality of the adapter for my Bernina. I had to buy a whole new set because the adapter was broken when I got it out to use it again, but the foot itself works well once you've read the directions and had some practice. It's quite a bit quicker than pinning.

I also had a pleasant surprise when I opened my email this evening. I moderate all comments so they come to my email before the are posted. I had an email from Richard Michell (of Marti Michell fame) who offered me a free drunkard's path template set from their website. I don't know why, and I was a bit leery at first, but then I thought I'd just give it a shot and trust that it's legitimate. So, I'll let you know if I actually get a template set. If I do, I have another quilt in mind because the one I chose was for 6" blocks so I can use it with my current template and make something completely different!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I realized after I wrote a reply to Marilyn, that the drunkard's path quilt used a number of quilting items that had remained unused used for a long time or never used. I used the template set for the quilt blocks for the very first time. The templates are acrylic, very nicely cut, but they have this dumb square handle that is just in the way. You have to apply pressure to templates when you are cutting fabric, or the template slips, and I can't with these because of the handle. I also used my curve master foot that I've had for about 2 years. Well, actually it's a new foot, because the adapter for my Bernina broke, and it is unique to the curve master, not to Bernina, and I used hand-dyed fabric from 2002 that I bought from Ricky Tims when my guild had a class from him. I think that's pretty good for one project.

I'm sewing the binding on the turtles wall hanging, and next I plan to sew it on the Chinese Tiles quilt and then SEND IT OFF! My niece has waited long enough, I think.

I am considering sandwiching and quilting a QOV next, the Greek Keys quilt that has been done for a while.

Marilyn (mentioned above) also sent me to her quilt blog of the week--of a Romanian quilter named Geta. On her blog she made mention of a cool site that generates a palette of colors from a photo you upload. I am such a geek that I like stuff like this and had to try it. Geta challenged her readers to use that palette as a basis for a quilt. I think I might try that, and try to quilt outside my comfort zone. But for the moment, I tried it with this picture and it came up with this palette. Love it!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I chose to do the flying geese border. I ended up using a blue/green batik I had for the thin inner border. I used yet another yard of hand dyed fabric for the flying geese and the same mottled navy for the "sky". The geese ended up much more subdued than the quarter circles in the drunkard's path. It makes the border have a little less punch, and I think that's good. It won't compete with the drunkard's path for attention. I have the two short ends of the border complete and I tried to get a picture, but it's dark and the batteries on my camera are dead--so I'll charge them overnight and then take a picture and post it when the sun comes up.

The hubby said he likes this quilt, so I think I will make it for him. It's funny, but I don't know what he will do with it. He never sits with a quilt across his lap, and it's not large enough for our king sized bed, but--it will be his. Maybe he will want to hang it in his office. That might be fun. I have no idea what I am going to do for the quilting. Any ideas or suggestions?

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Next weekend I am going to a friend's house and we are going to have a quilting retreat. I am trying to decide what I want to bring to work on--that's what all this figuring is about.I have some blue bonnet fabric and I was thinking of a One Block Wonder quilt, but I don't know if I want to do that next. The white diamonds will be more of the blue bonnet fabric. These are just mock ups of the blocks. I wanted to see if there would be enough variety in the fabric to make a OBW. I'm still not sure. I'll come back and look again a bit later.

Then I have some hand dyed fabric that I might make into a drunkard's path--dark blue for the background. This is also a mock up. I took a photo of the fabric and used it in the drunkard's path block I made in MS Paint. I think I like it...Or--this...I decided to try to change the blocks some in this one. (I know that the quilt is not symmetrical, I had just enough room for this many rows.)

I need to think on this a while and come back later a look again at these.